


Opposite Ends

by Celticbutterfly



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Action & Romance, Eventual Sex, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:02:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21529498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celticbutterfly/pseuds/Celticbutterfly
Summary: Collections of stories and shorts between scenes from Dragon Age Inquisition.
Relationships: Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford
Kudos: 4





	Opposite Ends

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that the chapter orders may change as I add more stories and shorts. I have a timeline, I just don't write on a timeline.

Ellenaria stood over the table, her eyes unfocused at the map sprawled across the wooden planks. After her most recent adventure to find allies to close the breach, Elli had found herself stuck with a, albeit handsome and entertaining, Tevinter mage of whom she was just now becoming more familiar with. While finding new allies was nothing new in the soap opera she called her new life, being thrown a year into the future had been an uncomfortable journey, and one that she was not ready to recount to her advisors. The the scenes still haunted her memory, causing her lack of focus upon the map.

She knew to count herself lucky. They had been able to recruit the mages to work along side them to close the breach, and, due to the lovely vacation destination her and Dorian had won from Alexius, they had some ideas as to how the world came to ruin in one years time. While that information was useful, the tormented face of an older Lelliana reminded her now of the cost the world would pay if they were unsuccessful in stopping this marrigamaroll of events from occurring. The pressure that had been firmly dropped into Elli's lap, or hand as it were, was mounting and she wasn't really sure she could handle it.

"Herald?" The large door opening broke the peace and silence of the room, "Ah, there you are."

Cullen made his way into the room, closing the large, heavy door behind him, his actions hinting that he was trying to persuade more people to leave her be by shutting out the world from this room. She smiled at his kind gesture before slowly turning to face the Commander.

"You know I don't like it when you call me that," a look of disapproval crosses Elli's face as she leaned against the table.

"Lavellan," he corrected shyly, "Leliana, Cassandra, and Josephine should be here soon."

Elli sighed. Try as she might, she could not get him to just call her by her first name. And they had made so much progress too. Elli no longer fought her past instinct that had taught her to run from Templars when they were in the same room together, and they could even stay in the same room together without hesitating. And he even seemed slightly more relaxed with her near by.

"Right," Elli said, trying to fill the awkward silence between the two of them. For people who usually talk a lot, Elli was at a total loss for words, "Um, so, the mages."

"We're been working on making more room for them while you were away. We've put up some quarters for them as far away from the templars as we could. That should give them some peace, hopefully. But I am a little concerned. With mages comes issues, Lavellan."

"We've been over this. I'm fine with the templars being here and being in sight for when they're needed, but we are allies with the mages. We need to show them we trust them. If they see Templar interference, they will get scared and then we will have issues. But for now...they're just people trying to make up for their mistake. Surely you can understand that. They will be trying their best to prove they are worth this alliance. And it's not me they have to prove that to, it's all of Thedes." She sighed; she didn't mean to lecture but she was very passionate about giving these mages a second chance, "Sorry. I'm just trying to say give them a chance. Let them also see that Templars and Mages can find a way to coexist rather than another power struggle. I mean, we found a way to do so. Give them that same chance."

Cullen nodded and chuckled slightly, "It will take some time, but alright. I'll inform the Templars and make sure we stick to the plan."

Elli smiled at him and expressed her gratitude. She knew of his cautious nature, but she could also see he was trying to rid himself of his past bias and move forward. She had to admire him for that, if nothing else.

"Don't tell me you've started without me," Dorian loudly announced his impending presence in the room, "I do hate to have you repeat everything."

Elli smiled, "We're waiting for the others still."

Dorian came to stand next to her. She hadn't known him for very long, but she could tell they were going to get along very well. He voiced many opinions she had held back saying, and she liked his confidence. He was also a very skilled mage. Being Dalish and him from Tevinter, there was a great many differences in how they shaped their magic around them. She was very eager to learn from him. Even Solas expressed interest in join them in conversations. Between the two of them, Elli felt that there was a lot of knowledge for her to absorb. And she loved it.

"And we're here," Leliana, Josie, and Cassandra entered after Dorian.

"Right, well," Elli gestured to Dorian, "uh, well we remember Dorian right?"

They all nodded. Dorian gave a small wave before reatingg his eyes on Cullen and giving him a full look over. Elli had to stifle a laugh at the playfulness of Dorian and the awkwardly reaction from Cullen.

"Okay," Elli couldn't think of another way to stall, "then, here's the story..."

She recounted the events at Redcliffe, the future her and Dorian had witnessed. The red templars and mages and the red lyrium corruption. She told them of Corypheus' take over, and destruction of the world that was planned. But the red lyrium was what got most of them talking. There was much back and forth on the topic that it was making Elli's head hurt and the memories return.

"So," Leliana sighed after the story and bickering was complete, "we need to close the breach. If not, we will be over run and that future will surely come to pass."

"Right. You didn't give me a lot of information about what happened to the Inquisition afterwards, but we do know some key point. I just don't know when they happened exactly and if closing the breach would actually solve the issues or not. I never found Josie, or you," Elli looked from Josephine to Cullen before she felt a knot in her stomach and dropped her gaze to the table. She had been trying not to entertain the idea of other inquisition members falling in that future, but it crept up on her every now and then. And I don't think I could bear seeing you like that.

She shook her head as to try and shake the thought away and raised her eyes to see everyone staring at her. A sudden cold washed over her as she feared what she had thought had been uttered aloud instead. Cullen had looked away from her, his hand rubbing the back of his neck and his face red. Josie and Lelianna exchanged amused glances, Dorian wiggled an eyebrow, and Cassandra just stared, her face unreadable.

"Seeing, anyone like that, I mean," Elli tried to cover up the awkward silence but she feels that all it did is make it work as Josie's giggling became autible, "Look, I'm tired. I'm going to bed. We can talk more tomorrow."

Without waiting for a reply, Elli retreated quickly out of the room. Dorian followed her out, a few steps behind.

How could she have said that out loud? She was mentally kicking herself over and over. How? Why? And why did the idea of him affected by red lyrium bother her so? They had just figured out how to be around each other and had entered the stage of actually being friends instead of the distrust and hate she had held for all Templars. And she had gone and made everything awkward with her stupid mouth and her stupid thoughts and these messed up feelings.

"If you need me, I will be in my room under a mound of blankets," Elli mumbled to Dorian.

"I think I'm going to hang out here for a while. You guys know how to have fun," Dorian's mischievous smile was all Elli needed to relive her current embarrassment.

"For the foreseeable future." Elli added. As much as she was happy Dorian would be staying around, she just really wanted to run away from this mess.


End file.
